


Computer Wizard

by tinx_r



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, Riptide - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-17
Updated: 2010-06-04
Packaged: 2017-10-22 20:04:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/242022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinx_r/pseuds/tinx_r
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With magic and technology at his fingertips, a man can do nearly anything he sets his mind to...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

It hadn't always been easy. Murray surveyed the Roboz, smiling to himself just a little. The orange robot really was an extraordinary invention.

All those years ago at school, all the disbelief he'd faced - Murray shook his head. He'd been called everything, from squib to muggle-lover, for his efforts, but at last, all the hard work, all the ridicule, had paid off.

The Roboz was the perfect blend of magic and technology.

From the copper-and-unicorn-hair wires to the dragon's-blood-and-silicon lubrication, everything about the machine was the best that each world could offer. Murray had done what every wizard had scoffed at, and now he was a hero. At least in the muggle world.

Carefully, he laid down the issue of Time magazine, smiling back at himself on the cover. His inventions did things that science could barely explain, and it was no wonder.

From beneath his desk, he withdrew a different publication. Developments in Magic was published on creamy parchment, not the glossy color of Time, and at present, its cover was empty. As Murray watched it, the face of his old friend Albus Dumbledore appeared, looking harried.

Murray surveyed him with a tired smile. Albus looked older, with gray starting to show in his sandy beard. Fawkes the phoenix sat on his shoulder, majestic and aloof, and Murray sighed.

That summer they had spent together, the things they'd learned... the magic they'd made. Losing Albus was his only regret in leaving the wizarding world. Of course, he had friends this side too. Cody and Nick, who'd put themselves on the line to save him - Murray had never had the heart to tell them he'd had his own escape planned. Although it was better not to have to jump from a helicopter. Flying came with the risk of being seen.

But Albus had been something more. Murray had watched Nick and Cody often, and he sometimes wondered, if he hadn't left, if he and Albus might have been that way. But then, deep in his cabin, lost in the thrill of complicated, precision engineered magic, he knew he'd done the right thing. Nick and Cody needed each other on a fundamental level, and Murray knew, deep down, that he wasn't like that. He'd cared for Albus, wanted Albus, even loved Albus - but when it came to need, that was a different thing. The only thing Murray needed was his own magic, pure and crafted, pumping through his veins.

Well, that and technology. Murray put aside the magical publication, not wanting to read about the latest self-sewing needles nor yet the Supa-gro formula the sixth-years at Hogwarts had developed. Great Britain was lifting its magical game at last, and that was a good thing, given how strong the dark magic wizards were across the Atlantic.

Things were different in America. Albus had found it so, and Murray often wondered if that was one of the things that had kept them from truly connecting. Old World magic was so grounded in protection and defense, there was little room for innovation. Here in the new world, things were different.

"Boz! Boz!" There was a clatter of feet on the stairs, and moments later his partners burst into the room. Murray hid the parchment document smoothly in his desk, making the locking charm with one slender finger, even while he firmly dragged his attention back to the present. Back to the case.

"He's taken Quinlan." Nick sounded grim, pacing up and down as Cody leaned over Murray's desk, frowning. "We gotta get a handle on this guy before he kills someone."

"I've got a name." Murray hid his smile of triumph as Nick and Cody gaped at him in amazement. "It was easy, guys. We had three numbers from his car's plates, we figured him for an ex-cop, and we knew his bank. I have his name, his bank account, his - "

"Address?" Cody asked, clenching his fists, looking at Murray in excitement.

"I'll get the guns."

It had been almost too simple. Well, apart from the urgent spell to stop the Mimi leaking fuel after they'd been hit, giving Nick the precious time he needed to land the vintage bird. Murray hoped he never had to put his magic to the test and see if he could, in fact, fly the chopper by wand alone.

The spells Murray used were few and far between, these days, and if he hadn't kept his hand in with ghost repellent and frictionless oil, he'd have forgotten everything he ever learned about potions. Roboz did his magic for him, most of the time.

 _Expelliarmus_ didn't work on muggle weapons, although _Impedimenta_ had some effect. But in the main, Murray's patronus protected the Riptide detectives, unknown to two of them. Sometimes Murray imagined what would happen if Nick and Cody could see the great silver grasshopper that fought back the darkness at their sides. But his partners steadfastly refused to believe in magic, or in things that couldn't be seen or touched, and Murray knew better than to try to convince them otherwise.

Quinlan was unimpressed with being rescued, as always, even as he shepherded the kidnap victims back to the station as though he personally had broken the case. Murray smiled tolerantly and gave his statement, presenting the information he couldn't have accessed by muggle means as guesswork and hypothesis.

He knew Quinlan was starting to respect him - maybe even like him - and he'd thought about following it up. But he'd never touched a muggle man yet, and he wasn't sure he wanted to. The women he enjoyed, as he'd enjoyed the witches he'd known at school, but since Albus... Murray shook his head. To touch a man as he'd touched Dumbledore; as Albus had touched him; that was something he might never be ready for.

For tonight, as so many nights, being alone was both his choice and his pleasure. Alone, he could allow his mind to wander where it would; there was no mask to wear, no-one to please nor answer to. Sometimes Murray considered solitude tantamount to freedom - especially on the days when Dumbledore was furthest from his thoughts.

Tonight, though, when he closed his eyes, he felt the remembered presence, missed the warmth of his lover's body with a blunt, raw pain that the years hadn't tarnished. Touching himself brought no relief, and Murray gave in to his need. Magic could, after all, do more than solve cases.

The spell was an invention of his own, but one that owed little to technology and all to magic. Murray couldn't help smiling as he whispered the incantation - _Squib, indeed!_ \- and picked up the book that lay beside his bed.

As he opened the covers, the pages fell away before his eyes, and instead of words on paper, he saw the darkened aft stateroom, and his partners in their bunk. One more whispered word and the cabin was filled with sounds: soft, muffled cries, grunts, the slap of flesh on flesh.

Hard in an instant, Murray propped his viewscreen up and gripped his own length. The magic these two made never failed to lighten his mood and he watched avidly, almost feeling the heat. With every stroke his own orgasm built, closer, stronger, and it was all he could do to hold out until he heard Nick and Cody cry their release.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Did anyone ever wonder where Mad-Eye's eye came from?

At first, Murray was able to ignore the pelican. He knew from Nick and Cody that the damn thing had been hanging around since before he'd even come to King Harbor, but of course, that didn't mean anything. Dumbledore had always had an uncanny way of knowing what Murray was about to do. Even when Murray didn't.

As the weeks went by, the bird grew more insistent. Murray heard it after lights out, the soft clicks and taps as it inspected the skylight into his cabin, and he had to tell Nick and Cody that the fresh salt air might harm his computers to explain why he closed his cabin tight on the hot summer nights.

Like they did with so many things, Nick and Cody had traded that puzzled glance and stepped closer together. They liked him - Murray had never doubted that - but they didn't understand a tenth of what he did. Murray didn't mind. He was used to it.

There'd only been one person who understood everything he did, without needing an explanation. Murray sighed. And that brought him right back to the pelican.

The day he found it in his room, perched precariously on the Roboz's head, he gave in. It was the work of a moment to scribble a message, and the pelican snatched it from his hand as though it was an extra-tasty treat. Before Murray could protest it had slipped through the skylight, through an aperture Murray knew was far too small to admit a bird of its size, and was gone into the California blue.

There was an angry shout from above followed by a splash, and Murray swore, racing up the steps in time to find Nick pulling himself up onto the fantail while Cody offered a hand, snickering.

"I told you you'd fall in if you didn't stop looking at the girls on the Contessa, pal."

"You'd have fallen in too if that bloody bird had divebombed you," Nick snapped, clambering aboard, dripping. "Murray, if you've been feeding it again - "

"Oh, no, Nick, I swear I haven't," Murray said hurriedly. "I - I can't imagine why it's still hanging around." That part at least was a lie. Murray withdrew to his room, half-listening as above decks Cody gently teased and petted Nick back to good humor, and trying not to wonder how long it would be until the pelican returned.

*

There were always tourists on the pier, and at first Nick and Cody paid no attention to the strangely dressed man who'd started appearing near the Riptide at odd hours. He'd been around a week when Nick pointed out to Cody how much the guy looked like the weird magician Murray had befriended, and although Cody laughed it off, he had to agree.

"C'mon, Nick... the guy's dead." But he shot a nervous glance along the pier at the strange-looking man, who was standing looking out to sea.

"That guy makes Houdini look like a kid in a sandpit," Nick disagreed, shaking his head. "He's not dead, Cody, I'm sure of that much."

"Maybe you're right." Cody looked from the stranger to Nick and back. "You think that's him?"

"I dunno. But maybe we better tell Boz."

But by the time Murray made it up on deck, there was no sign of the stranger. No sign of anyone, in fact, except Lieutenant Quinlan marching down the pier, brandishing a sheaf of paper.

Nick groaned. "What is it this time, Quinlan? I think the only thing you haven't tried to put us away for so far's prostitution."

"Stow it, beach bum. I'm here to talk to Bozinsky." Quinlan waved the pages he carried. "I just booked some jerk for trying to steal a car downtown, an' after he finished spinning me a pile of bull about just wanting a closer look, he told me he's a friend of yours. Told me you'd back up his story. So how about it, geek-o? When did you start palling around with car thieves?"

"C'mon, Quinlan, you know better than that," Cody started, but Murray held up his hand.

"Wait, Cody. Tell me, Quinlan, what's the name of the... the car thief?"

"Dumbledore," the Lieutenant replied, looking at one of his papers. "Mister Albus Dumbledore. That ring any bells, Bozinsky?"

To Nick and Cody's consternation, Murray paled as though he'd seen a ghost. "I - yes. I knew him - uh - at school." Squaring his shoulders, he forced a smile. "Nick, Cody... if you'll excuse me, I think I'd better accompany the Lieutenant here."

Murray refused Cody's offer to drive him, waving them both away and starting to follow the lieutenant. He was halfway up the companionway when he stopped dead and spun around. "Just a minute, just a minute, I've forgotten - " Leaving Quinlan standing open-mouthed, he rushed past Nick and Cody and jumped back on board. Moments later, he reappeared, the Roboz's orange remote control clutched in his hand. "I wont be long, guys!"

"That was weird," Cody said, looking after Murray and Quinlan in confusion.

"All Murray's friends are weird, man," Nick said with foreboding. "I just hope he's not gonna bring this guy back here."

*

Down at the police station, bringing Dumbledore back to the boat was the furthest thing from Murray's mind. Especially because the man looking at him through the bars was emphatically not Albus Dumbledore.

"Moody?" Murray regarded the man in astonishment. "Why are you using Dumbledore's name?"

Alastor Moody looked over his shoulder as though he feared someone might be listening, and impatiently, Murray pointed the Roboz's control at the door behind him and cast a Silencing Charm. "No-one can hear us," he said.

"Says you." Moody made an impatient gesture and hobbled forward. As he did so, the light fell on his face, and Murray gasped. Instead of the handsome if rugged countenance Murray remembered from his time at school, Alastor's nose was bent and misshapen, and one eye was twisted shut.

"Alastor... what happened?" Murray asked, unable to tear his eyes away.

"There's curses coming out of Japan St Mungo's ain't never heard of." Moody grimaced, and it took Murray a moment to realize the man was smiling. "Lucky for me, my wand don't need to speak Japanese to send 'em back where they came from. But it was a bit hairy 'til I got the hang of it." Moody gestured at his face.

Murray came to the bars, still staring. "What is it you want me to do?"

After creating the Roboz's complex fly-eyes, what Alastor wanted seemed to Murray like child's play. The hardest part of the job was keeping Moody hidden in the closet, especially as his sneakoscope kept going off.

"It's nothing to worry about!" Murray placated Alastor for the third time. "Look, the foe-glass is clear. The sneakoscope's just picking up on Cody looking at the girls on the Contessa, that's all."

Alastor was hard to convince, and as soon as Murray had finished the first prototype, decided to take his leave. He overrode Murray's protests, even as his new eye rolled wildly. "I don't want a better version, Murray. This here one's gonna do just what I need. Kinda reminds me of the one I lost. Now point me to your fireplace, and I'll be on my way."

There was a brief hiccup while Murray tried to explain that boats didn't have fireplaces, and in the end, Murray had to set his soldering iron on fire to create a diversion while Moody apparated into Straightaway's to make use of their chimney.

*

It had been, Murray reflected, one of the strangest days of his career. Quinlan had searched the boat, shouting about the missing prisoner, while Nick and Cody disclaimed all knowledge. Murray had sat quietly at the table, massaging his temples, thinking of all the improvements he could have made to the magic eye had he only been given the time.

He'd been so preoccupied, he'd even forgotten to flirt with Quinlan.

Hearing Dumbledore's name again had been a shock, Murray couldn't deny it, but finding Moody waiting instead had almost been a relief. His new life, the boat, even the pelican's regular delivery of the Daily Prophet, had become comfortable and familiar, and after today, Murray had become sure of one thing. Even if somehow Dumbledore returned to him, even if the wizarding world invited him in - he wouldn't go. They'd called him squib, muggle - and he'd taken his magic and made it a part of the muggle world. Moody's visit today showed just how successful he'd become.

Nick and Cody didn't care if he was magic or not. They only cared that he was Murray. The thought was freeing, and Murray grinned to himself, lowering his hand to find his book.

On the viewscreen, there was only an empty bunk, neatly made. Murray frowned for an instant, then opened his mouth to use his Seeking spell.

"You won't need that." The closet door opened, and Nick stepped out.

Murray froze, mind going blank. His tongue felt thick in his mouth, and he couldn't shape the word to clear the viewscreen.

But Nick, instead of being angry, sat down on the bed beside him, and took the book gently from Murray's nerveless hand. "Murr, you should've said," he said simply. "Cody, babe, come out."

Cody appeared from the shadows in the bow, and came to join Nick. "Yeah, Murray. You've been acting so weird lately, we got kinda worried. If that friend of yours, Alastor, hadn't come and talked to us - well, Murray, things might've got awkward."

"What - what do you mean?" Heart pounding, Murray stared from Nick to Cody. Alastor hadn't left his room - unless he'd Apparated out of the closet!

"We mean, Murray, that we love you too." Cody leaned in close, sliding his arms around Murray's shoulders. Murray trembled.

"We sure do," Nick murmured, close to his ear. "Alastor told us about your book here." He laid it down gently on the nightstand. "But you know, I've never been much for books. Whaddaya say to some hands-on experience, Murray? Do you think you'd like that?"

Murray gulped. "Please," he said breathlessly. "Please, I really would."


End file.
